


What if it all goes away?

by peggywrites



Category: Lupin III
Genre: Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, Insecurity, Other, actual lack of card playing, angst with a somewhat happy ending, fujiko & jigen getting along
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:15:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22826251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peggywrites/pseuds/peggywrites
Summary: The gang learns to play Cards Against Humanity. Jigen gets uncharacteristically open about what he's feeling, and his fear that things the way they are won't last.
Relationships: Ishikawa Goemon XIII/Jigen Daisuke/Arsène Lupin III/Mine Fujiko, Jigen Daisuke/Arsène Lupin III
Comments: 2
Kudos: 81





	What if it all goes away?

**Author's Note:**

> I was playing Cards Against and thought 'hey I could make a drabble out of this!' and then I thought 'hey I could make a sad drabble out of this!'  
> The card game is mostly used as a set up for the dialogue so there's not a whole lot of actual reading of the cards, but it's in there!  
> Jigen's CGI haircut is also great for emotional vulnerability.

After an extremely successful heist, Lupin and his gang found themselves piled into a hotel room absolutely overflowing with money. Stacks of bills and gold coins littered the floor, happily being displayed with the curtains of the window shut tight. Fujiko had stayed this time, a rare occurrence, but one that was happily accepted by Lupin. The four of them were now gathered around the coffee table; Jigen and Lupin on the couch, and Fujiko and Goemon on soft cushions on the floor.

Lupin had been extremely excited to show his friends the American game “Cards Against Humanity.” He had explained the goal and how to win in the simplest way possible, with _very little detail_ about the nature of the game, and then divvied up the cards to each of them.

It took thirty seconds before Fujiko and Jigen were snickering with laughter and Goemon gently said “I no long wish to play this game.”

They convinced him to stay in though, and the game was running on its first hour mark. After breaking out wine, beer, and saki from the minifridge (along with some snacks), the game went on as it was meant to be played. The gang picking the most obscure or gross answers they had in their hands. Sometimes Goemon had to lean over to Fujiko and ask her what a card meant, then would blush furiously after she whispered the answer into his ear. When it was his turn to read, Jigen laughed so hard he had to put out his cigarette after making the others worry he might choke on it. Fujiko scrunched up her nose at some of the more crude cards and went in favor of trying to be clever with her answers.

Lupin had won most of the black cards, and it was just like him to pick a game he would be the best at. At first, they planned to play until five, but it quickly went to seven, then ten, and now they were somewhere in the teens as Lupin gathered enough black cards to make his own mini deck. When it wasn’t his turn to read the others would try to guess which one was his and give the win to someone else, which he quickly picked up on and shouted “WAIT NO! THAT’S CHEATING!”

Jigen and Fujiko were tied with the second most amount of cards, and Goemon had the least. Most of them were pity-wins from Fujiko, but other times he made the others double over with laughter after finding out his won the round.

It was Lupin’s turn now, and everyone had placed their cards in the center of the table. After shuffling them in his hands, Lupin read the black card again and took wheezing breaths as he laugh-read out the white cards.

Jigen giggled, leaning back on the couch and placing his hands behind his head. He looked around at the bellowing laughter of his companions; at Lupin struggling to breathe as he tried to read the cards, at Goemon shaking his extremely red head, and at Fujiko’s offended gasp before smacking Lupin on the knee. It had been a while since the four of them hung out together, and even long since Fujiko just stayed because she wanted to, not because she wanted something from them. It was an odd change.

But Jigen couldn’t say it was _unwelcome_.

It was actually kind of _**nice**_.

It was nice to see them all getting along. It was nice seeing them laugh. It was nice exchanging glances with Fujiko before bursting into laughter. He can’t remember the last time he and her got along, if you could call this that. But they were only playing a game, right? It’s not like it mattered in the grand scheme of things, right?

He hummed. Leaning forward, he picked up his cigarette from the ashtray on the table and lit it again, thinking quietly to himself at his did so.

 **Did** this matter? He hated Fujiko’s guts, or at least that’s what he told everyone, including himself. She betrayed them more times than he can count on his hand, but then she turned around and acted like she never did. He wondered how many card games it would take to make up for their lost scores. They were all laughing now, but how long would it take for the laughter to die out? How long would it be until they weren’t all together again? How long before Fujiko betrayed them? Or for Goemon to go back to Japan? Or for Lupin to –

“Jigen?” Lupin’s voice cut through the fog that clouded his mind. Jigen lifted his chin from his hand to look at his partner.

“Huh? What?”

“It’s uh – it’s your turn.” Lupin gave a helpful smile, but kept his eyes on Jigen as he reached for the deck of black cards.

“Right, um … right.” Jigen took a draw of his cigarette before picking up a card. He pulled it close (his hands were shaking, why were they shaking?) so he could read under his hat. “Okay, ‘10% of adults admit to being addicted to _blank_.’” He read, before placing the card down.

There was a pause. Jigen looked to see the others exchanging looks with each other and shuffling through their cards.

“What? No good ones?” he asked curiously.

“No, no,” Fujiko answered. “You were just … acting a little strange.”

“The _Hell_ does that mean?”

“Don’t get upset, Jigen.” Lupin said casually. “We all noticed you go silent. And you lit your cigarette again.”

“I wanted a smoke, so kill me.” Jigen huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “And I didn’t want to suddenly inhale the thing so I stopped laughing.”

“Are you okay?” Fujiko asked, with a tone of concern that he didn’t know she could have.

“Yeah,” He stated firmly. “Don’t worry about it.” The silence that filled the air made his heart sink. And there it was: The end of the laughter. He had to admit. It happened faster than he thought it would. “It’s stupid. We’re having fun, I don’t want to … ya know.”

“We can take a minute.” Lupin said after placing down his card. He looked calm, giving a small shrug, as if talking about feelings was a normal thing they did. “If you want to.”

“I don’t think –“

“I’ll keep my mouth shut.” Fujiko spoke up. She was glancing at the ceiling and not at him as she made an X over her heart. “No snickering, I swear.”

Jigen hummed. If her attitude before hadn’t shocked him, that certainly did. His leg bounced up and down, thinking of the right words, or any words, really. If he decided to talk, that is. He took the cigarette and snuffed it out for good this time. He didn’t owe anyone an explanation for his actions or his behavior or how he felt. He knew this, they knew this. They weren’t high schoolers in some kind of social club, they were thieves who took whatever they wanted and shot their way out of situations. Fujiko never explained herself, why should he have to?

He took a deep breath and sighed. “ _Okay_.”

The others exchanged glances and set down their cards, showing Jigen they had his full attention. Great, just what he needed.

Then Jigen took off his hat and set it on the table. Okay, maybe he was more drunk than he realized because there was no way in hell that sober Jigen would’ve _**EVER**_ done that. Especially with the pushed back way he was doing his hair these days.

“It’s just …” He began, trying to ignore the wide-eyed look from everyone else. “For the first time I’m happy. Really, actually happy. Not just tonight; it’s been happening more often. Especially since I met you.” He glanced over at Lupin before quickly looking away. “I used to not – I mean I never … _cared_ about things.” He gestured vaguely with his hands. “I didn’t care about the people I worked with. I didn’t care about who they told me to kill. I guess I’m just …” He sighed.

A hand met his shoulder. He knew Lupin was trying to comfort him, but it just added more weight and made him feel even heavier. He swallowed, immediately regretting being vulnerable around Fujiko. She was just going to use this against him later.

“I don’t know. I’m starting to **_feel_** things again. And all of this is great, and I’m happy, and I like being with you guys.” Jigen shrugged, letting his shoulders slump. “And what if that all goes away?”

There was a moment where no one talked. Jigen could tell they were all seeing if he was going to talk anymore, but he shook his head, squeezing up his eyes to try and make sense of everything.

“How do you mean?” Lupin asked. “Like, we die _go away_ or we –“

“You know how everyone is around me.” Jigen said, maybe a bit harsher than he would’ve liked, turning to face his friend. “Literally everyone I’ve worked with, everyone I thought would have my back betrays me or throws me under the bus.” Sometimes almost literally. “How long – how do I know that _this_ –“ He gestured between all four of them. “isn’t going to end up the same way?”

“Alright,” Lupin lifted his hands, holding them up in a defensive position. “First of all, that is never going to happen. Yeah, our job is dangerous and one of us might die, but we’d never leave you on purpose.”

Jigen narrowed his eyes, his lack of hat allowing everyone to see the glance to gave Fujiko. She pressed her lips together and gave an awkward clear of her throat.

“Fujiko is a special case.” The gentleman thief quickly cut in. “She just has her own thing going on most of the time, she always comes back, and she’s helped us when we’re in trouble. It’s not like we’ve ever actually been in any real danger because of her.”

Jigen opened his mouth to retort, but Goemon cut him off.

“Despite sayings, there is honor among thieves.” He calmly stated. “While we do have our quarrels and differences of opinion, none of us would intentionally give the others up.”

“You think you’re different from the others?” Jigen asked.

“Of course we are.” Came a sigh from Fujiko. Of course she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. “I may pull a few strings now and then, and we may hate each other,” The words from her made him flinch a bit. “but I’m not like some mob goon who would sell someone out just because I didn’t like them. I have standards.” He placed a hand on her chest with self-importance.

“See? Even Fujicakes agrees.” Lupin added quickly. “We’re not going anywhere.” His hand returned to Jigen’s shoulder, turning him so he could face them. “Jigen, you’re not working for the worst people around anymore. I know you try to not care because you don’t want to get hurt, but you’re really bad at hiding it.”

Jigen blinked, a bit offended, but couldn’t say anything as Lupin continued.

“We’re – we’re not just people you work with, Jigen. We’re your friends. We’re your f-“

“Don’t.” Jigen’s voice shook as he grabbed his hat. “That’s … that’s a little bit too much for right now.” He cleared his throat. “But um … thanks. I don’t like to talk about this stuff, normally, but … I feel like I can with you guys.” He shrugged, hopefully letting the sentence make up for the word Lupin tried to say. He sighed, placing his hat back on his head.

He looked back down at the cards. He had ruined the game, hadn’t he? Jigen let out a soft giggle through his nose before picking up the card Lupin had set down.

“Lupin was the only one who actually put down a card. Which means he wins the round by default with –“ He turned the card over and snorted. “’my friend’s hot mom.’”

Fujiko gasped. “That’s not fair! We were distracted!”

“Sorry, you should’ve put down a card.” Jigen said with a laugh.

“That’s the last time I get concerned about you.” She humphed, sticking her nose in the air. She was only sour for a moment before giggling again.

They restarted the game and shuffled all the cards again. Jigen shuffled his new hand while looking at the others from under his hat. He didn’t know why he cut Lupin off, and he was a bit afraid he might’ve hurt his partner’s feelings. If he had, the other didn’t show it, already giggling like a fool at his new cards.

Were they a family? Jigen knew they were friends, but was family too much? Lupin didn’t seem to think so. Maybe he should’ve let him finish his sentence.

As Fujiko read the first black card, Jigen gently tapped his foot on Lupin’s, carefully hidden by the wooden table. Lupin glanced over with his eyebrows slightly raised.

The gunman gave him a smile, casually shrugging his shoulders. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was trying to say, but hopefully Lupin understood in his own way. He must have, because the thief lifted up a bit to place his card down, and when he sat back on the couch, it was to be a little close to Jigen.

Jigen laughed softly and thought that maybe, _just maybe_ , being in a family again wouldn't be so bad.


End file.
